Category: Get Organized

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By Silvia on August 26th, 2010

Managing Your Marketing Leads

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Managing your marketing sales lead is as important as driving a good sales for the business. After all, sales lead is the source of your prospective sales. On this note, it is important to determine how you could make sales lead easier to manage.

A well managed leads can be useful for a strategic marketing leads. Organizing your sales lead is also beneficial especially for follow ups. This is to keep track all your leads and to be able to maximize the benefits that they offer.

Before you can organize your sales leads, you have to determine first your targeted consumers. To assist you, the marketing specialist would be able to help identify your targeted consumers. The key is to determine the group of people who patronizes your product and service. Remember that knowing more about the details of your customers is geared towards marketing and sales strategic approach.

You can gather the basic information from your sales lead. These set of information are the name of the customer, Company name, alternate contact person, and address with zip code, phone number, fax number, cellular phone number, e-mail address and website.

It is beneficial to use a computer in order to complete your work. Or you can have a record in hard copy.  You can do both. Have a file in application software and a hard copy at the same time. In case your computer is not working well, at least you have a back up record.

If you will do it on the conventional method, you will need index cards. The size of your index card will depend on the information that you will put in the index card. One advantage of an index card is that it is easier to follow-up your lead. Use your front as your main source information. And the back should be used for notation for each follow up.  Keep the cards organize by arranging them alphabetically. It would be best to put your cards in a box as well.

Another option is a rolodex card. With this system, you can manage a large number of index cards. And such can be done with ease and comfort. Rolodex card system is a clerical device that has a rotating cylinder with a center bar that organizes the removable cards. This way, you are secured that the card will be intact.

You can also use a notebook to organize the lists of your marketing sales lead. Choose a lose leaf so you could write as many leads as possible. With this option, you gain more space as compared to an index card. It is advisable to choose thicker papers for longevity of its usage. This is actually the most economical way to manage your sales leads. Further, it could be accessible to anybody.

Another option to maintain your marketing sales leads is a business card organizer. This is applicable only if you have a minimal number of sales leads. You would have to change or improvise once your sales lead grows. One possible challenge that you might encounter in using a business card organizer is when making notes. The most that you could do is to leave the notes at the back of the card. But then, it will not be as complete as leaving the notes in a notebook, index card or in a software application of the computer.

Another way to organize your sales lead is through a software application in your computer. You could encode the information either in MS Excel or in MS Word. Depending on your preference of usage, any of the two will be a useful tool to record your data. But then, MS Excel will serve you much better. This application has features designed for massive data input. It could prove to be very useful when extracting information.

Managing your sales lead is extremely important. Not simply for keeping your records organized. But it is important to maximize the usage of your marketing sales lead.

Author: Silvia Pencak

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By Silvia on July 26th, 2010

Branding vs. Business Cost

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Author: Silvia Pencak

How do you view your brand development initiatives? As a cost? Or as an investment? Learn why it’s vital to the growth of your brand and success of your business to view your brand strategy as an investment.

I’ve had several clients and small business owners tell me lately that they can’t start any new branding initiatives because they are cutting costs and streamlining their operations to help navigate the economic challenges. While I’ll be the first to admit that the current economic situation should cause all of us to take a good, hard look at our business model, and that cutting costs and reducing expenses is a wise endeavor – I think there’s a fundamental mistake in that line of reasoning. Branding shouldn’t be considered a cost – and therefore be subject to ‘reduction’ – instead, branding should be viewed as an investment.

Branding as a Cost:

You see, if we view branding initiatives as a cost, we’re always going to be looking for ways to get the cheapest deal. While this may be a good idea for shopping after Thanksgiving, it’s not a good idea for your business. Why? Well, because I believe a focused brand strategy is the most important part of your business. In order to be successful, especially as a small organization, you have to build a brand that’s different, relevant, and able to evolve.

Why then would you want to ‘cut’ this vital part of your business plan when times get tough? Typically, it’s because your perspective of branding, and your perceived value of brand strategy is wrong. Whenever I think of a ‘cost’ I always have a negative view. When I think of costs I think of bills, collection calls, and money draining out of my account.

Branding as an Investment:

Alternatively, if you view branding as an investment, there are a few preconceptions you accept. For one, you expect to get a positive return on your investment. Secondly, you understand that in order to receive a positive return, it will take some time. Thirdly, you understand that the more you put in, especially in times where you can take advantage of situations to better position your investment, the more you will get out.

So apply those expectations to your brand. In times like these it’s very easy to want to button down the hatches and remove all ‘excess’ outflows. This couldn’t be more detrimental to your business. Because the markets will turn around and the economy will rebound. Where will your brand be when it does? Don’t you think that it’s better to position your brand now for success later? By viewing your brand strategy as an investment, it takes the ‘negativity’ factor away from what you put ‘in’ because it shifts your perspective from what you’re putting in to what you will eventually get out.

This is how we should view our brand development strategy. We should be positioning our brands for long-term success, just like you would desire for any investment.

Practicality:

So does that mean spend your Amex balance on branding initiatives with no discernment? Absolutely not. I understand that tight times mean tighter cash reserves. All I’m saying is that in order to continue building a successful brand, and to achieve long-term success in the marketplace, you have to keep your investments separate from your costs. Because when times get rough, your costs are the first things to go. And if your brand is one of those, you’ll be throwing the baby out with the bath water.

So how do you continue to develop your brand, invest in your brand development strategy, and position yourself for long-term success in a down economy? Here are some helpful tips to consider:

  1. Force yourself to remove all aspects of your brand, brand strategy, and branding initiatives from your cost category and place them in the investment category – this could include your website, e-marketing initiatives, print campaigns, environment design, and marketing strategy.
  2. Plan your marketing strategy around your brand goals, taking money out of the picture. Don’t set your goals based on your budget, set your budget around your goals.
  3. Once you’ve defined what you want to achieve, start applying your budgetary limitations. But don’t budget your costs first, do those last, after you’ve allocated funds and resources to achieve your branding goals.
  4. Understand that you may not be able to accomplish all of your branding goals – but by focusing on these goals outside of your expenses, you’ll be more willing to devote funds and resources to these endeavors when available.
  5. Research your competition and see where they are cutting back – there may be opportunities for you to take their place in certain initiatives.
  6. Just because your customers aren’t buying doesn’t mean they aren’t thinking about buying – by keeping your brand in their minds through strategic, targeted branding initiatives will help encourage them to choose your brand when they are ready to buy again.

If you let money rule your decisions, you’ll only grow as much as you’re willing to write a check.

In order to build a successful brand, especially as a small business or organization you have to stay motivated. You have to stay envisioned. And you have to keep brainstorming, and conceiving ways to position your brand to make the biggest splash. You must be wise with your finances and resources, especially in a down economy for sure. But you mustn’t be limited by your current limitations. By viewing your brand strategy as an investment, rather than a cost, you’ll be able to maintain a long-term perspective, and keep heading towards your goal.

In the course of building your brand, sometimes you’ll be running towards your goals, sometimes you’ll be walking. But you should never be standing still.

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By Silvia on July 21st, 2010

Keys to Successful Branding

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Author: Silvia Pencak

In order to achieve lasting success for you small business or organization you must develop an integrated, focused brand development strategy. This article informs you how to employ three key branding strategies to help grow your brand.

In an information-soaked world, it is more important than ever for any business or organization to employ an integrated and focused brand strategy in order to be successful. And this is no different for small businesses – in fact, it might just be more important for small businesses. In a small business or organization, rarely do you have the financial support, time, or recognition in the marketplace to simply “plod” along. In a world where thousands of companies and products are vying for consumers’ attentions, it is vital to make sure you are positioning your product or service to cause consumers to choose you.

Remember, it does you no good to just offer your customers another choice – you have to offer them a better choice. You can do that by employing three primary branding strategies to your business:

1. Be Different

When creating a product, or thinking about how to market a service, it’s not enough to just “dive” into the marketplace. It’s estimated that the average consumer is bombarded by over 6,000 marketing messages every day. It’s no wonder then why consumers tend to develop habits that they stick with – especially when it comes to purchasing products or utilizing services. It’s your job to shift these habits and loyalties over to your organization, and you do that first through differentiation.

You have to be different. In your particular industry (unless you’ve created the next light bulb) there’s probably several competitors within a 50 mile radius. More when you consider the ease of the phone and the internet. So what makes you different? Why are you unique from your competitors? What sets you apart that will make your target market pay attention?

Here are some quick questions to ask:
A) Identify your main competitors in your industry – what makes your products or services different from theirs?
B) Why would John Q. Consumer want to use your products or services over your competitors?
C) Make a list of how your products or services are similar to your competitors. Now make a list of how they are different. How can you exploit the differences to draw attention to your brand and away from your competitors?

2. Be Relevant

As important as it is, you can’t just be different. As I mentioned before it’s not enough to offer your potential customers more choices – you have to offer them a better choice. Your brand must be relevant. Your brand has to matter to the consumer – otherwise, you may have the most unique product on the market, but nobody will buy it because you haven’t done a good job convincing them WHY they should buy it.

Take Clear Pepsi for example. Pepsi came out with the product in the 1990s and it made a big splash initially because it was different. How could something taste like Pepsi but be clear? It was clearly a unique product (no pun intended). But Pepsi missed one important part of the puzzle, and as a result, the brand flopped a short time later. They didn’t make the product relevant. People didn’t care. They figured, if it tastes like Pepsi, why not just drink Pepsi? Or maybe they liked Sprite better.

The bottom line is that Pepsi created a unique product that people just didn’t care about. And it wasn’t successful. In the same say, you have to position your brand in such a way so that people will care about it enough to shift their purchasing habits. It’s a challenge, but a necessary one in order to achieve success.

Some questions to ask:
A) Why should consumers buy your product or use your service?
B) What will make the average consumer shift their habits and loyalties from your competitors’ brands to your brand?
C) What will the average consumer “GET” out of your brand that they won’t get out of others?
D) Why can’t the average consumer live WITHOUT your brand?

3. Be Able to Evolve

Finally, in order to achieve lasting success, and to not end up just a flash in the pan, your brand must be able to evolve. The first step is to create a unique brand and brand idea. The second step is to define why consumers can’t live without your brand. The third is to develop a long-term strategy for growth that allows your brand to stay ahead of the curve, and evolve with the changing market trends and consumer demand.

We’re seeing this firsthand in the auto industry. With higher gas prices, economic challenges, and changes in consumer tastes, the SUVs are shifting from a product of high demand to a product of low demand. Several SUVs are very unique products. And several companies have done a good job convincing the consumer why they should care about a particular brand of SUV. But how many of these companies will make the necessary changes for the brand to evolve? How will the changing market trends and consumer demands affect the long term success and failure of this industry – that will be determined by which brands successfully evolve.

In your small business or organization, you must think long term. You must employ strategies and initiatives that not only keep your brand in the forefront of your customers’ minds from a unique and relevant perspective – they must see you brand as one that is not affected by change, but rather as one that AFFECTS change. You’ve got to be a trend setter, a leader, not a follower. It may be different from business to business, from industry to industry, but if you don’t pay attention to the shifts in market demand, you’ll find yourself with yesterday’s news.

Some questions to ask:
A) What are the changes in market trends and consumer demand that I see in my industry in the coming years?
B) How can I position my brand to embrace change and evolve during those shifts?
C) How can I embrace technology to help my brand evolve – this can include the web, new media, and social networking.
D) Where do I want to be in 5 years? How can I position my brand now in order to make sure my brand is still different, relevant, and evolutionary at that time?

In order to achieve lasting success for your brand, especially for small businesses and organizations, you must do your due diligence to create a different, relevant, and evolutionary brand strategy. And you must have all three – it’s an all or nothing play. But if you work to create a brand strategy that effectively employs all three elements, you’ll go far in positioning your brand for success.

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By Silvia on July 03rd, 2010

Goal Quotes

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“If you do not have time to do it right, you must have time to do it over.”
Author Unknown

“Know your limits. But never stop trying to exceed them.”
Author Unknown

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”
Author Unknown

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you’ll land among the stars.”
Les Brown

“Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible in life.”
Les Brown

“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.”
Bill Copeland

“It is never too late to be who you might have been.”
George Eliot

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
T. S. Eliot

“The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Goals determine what you’re going to be.”
Julius Erving

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”
Henry Ford

“One half of knowing what you want is knowing what you must give up before you get there.”
Sidney Howard

“Great minds have purposes, others have dreams.”
Washington Irving

“Some of the world’s greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible.”
Doug Larson

“The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.”
Benjamin Mays

“You must have long term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short term failures.”
Charles C. Noble

“If you don’t know where you’re going you will probably end up somewhere else.”
Lawrence J. Peter

“If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up.”
J. M. Power

“Goals help focus you on areas in both your personal and professional life that are important and meaningful, rather than being guided by what other people want you to be, do or accomplish.”
Catherine Pulsifer

“How am I going to live today in order to create tomorrow I’m committed to?
Anthony Robbins

“Goals are dreams with deadlines.”
Diana Scharf Hunt

“Sometimes the path you’re on is not as important as the direction you’re heading.”
Kevin Smith

“It takes a person with a mission to succeed.”
Clarence Thomas

“I don’t care how much power, brilliance or energy you have, if you don’t harness it and focus it on specific target, and hold it there you’re never to accomplish as much as your ability warrants.”
Zig Ziglar

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”
Zig Ziglar

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By Silvia on June 07th, 2010

Promoting Your Brand

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If you’re lucky enough to be at the point with your business that you have decided upon your branding and feel confident in it, then you are at the point where you need to move on to the next step.  This step involves promoting your brand, getting the word out, essentially allowing others to “discover” your brand.

The successful brands out there easily come to mind.  This means that they have done something right, because as a result you “remember” them.  What are some memorable brands that you can think of, possibly Coca Cola, Microsoft, or Nike.

In short these brands have delivered on their promise to you, they have stood behind what they offered and they have given you, their customers something of value.  This is what we as business owners and entrepreneurs want to do.  In order to successfully promote our brands and have them “stand out” we must make a promise to our customers and ultimately deliver on that promise.  We must be willing to bring to them something of value that sets us apart and makes us unique.

Once you decide that you are going to do what it takes you must be willing to take action.  This is the “just do it” part of things, much like Nike who stands behind their well known slogan.  You must take action and be willing to promote yourself, so that in return others will come to know and recognize you and eventually promote you as well.

You want to become known as the “expert” in your field.  This can be done in a variety of ways, for online business owners this can be done by seeking opportunities to speak at teleseminars, by writing articles, creating and writing a blog, and more.

For offline business owners, this can be done by doing public speaking, serving on committees and volunteering in the community.  It truly is for any business about putting yourself out there and not being afraid to open your mouth. There is an old saying that says, when your mouth is open your business is open.  That’s what it takes sometimes to promote yourself, to simply “open” your mouth.

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By Silvia on April 26th, 2010

Healthy Choices – GRS Day 9

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Admit it. You always have a choice. It’s not about time, money, habits, or your background. It’s just the choice you make. I keep wondering why it seems easier to buy a cup of coffee at the store than make your own. Why do you buy a burger instead of salad. It’s just your preference, your choice, your decision. So let’s change it this week. Let’s think about health. Are your eating habits healthy? Do you eat smaller portions more times a day? Do you eat enough fruits and veggies?

No, I don’t want you to start dieting. I just want you to take a close look at your eating habits. What do you eat throughout a day? Write it down if you can. Keep writing your list for at least 3-4 days. Whatever you eat or drink goes on the list. That’s it. Start your list today. Right now. I’ll be back tomorrow with another list for you.

(c) MagneticLook.com

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By Silvia on April 12th, 2010

Living a Dream Lifestyle

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Author: Silvia Pencak

In this short video I’m sharing tips on how to create and live a dream lifestyle. You will probably agree that planning is crucial to achieve your goals, but is it enough?

Find out in the video below.  Share your thoughts and ideas about this topic in the comment area.

© 2010 MagneticLook.com

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By Silvia on March 31st, 2010

How To Be a Go-Getter

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Author: Silvia Pencak

“Have no fear of perfection, you’ll never reach it. ” Salvador Dali

I know, I know… Nothing is perfect, it’s just waste of my time, but what if I just can’t help it? What if I really CAN do everything better than anyone else, what if I just add couple more sentences… and maybe find another picture… If you can’t let go unfinished task, you can’t trust other people’s expertise and you can’t sleep at night because there’s still plenty of work waiting for you at your desk, in the kitchen or somewhere else, we need to “talk”.

Do not understand me wrong. I like job well done and I appreciate job well done, but striving for “perfect” will wear you down. Think for a minute. How much did you really get done today? And how about this week? This month? If you’re ready to get more done, check following 5 tips to help you move forward.

1. Plan your work and stick to your plan.

Set a deadline until when you want to have things done. Create an action plan – small steps that will help you achieve it. Set deadlines to each of your steps and keep working on them consistently. Avoid getting into overwhelm by spreading tasks as evenly as possible.

2. Set the timer.

This small tip improved my business and personal life unbelievably. Knowing you have limited amount of time helps you avoid distractions and focus on selected task. You get it done much faster. Make a decision after you run out of time whether the task is finished and you can close it or it needs more time and you need to come back to it.

3. Delegate.

Don’t even start telling me you can’t trust people and you can do it better yourself. You’re not a superwoman. Think about people in your life you already trust – bus driver, taxi driver or pilot will safely take you to your destination, postman will deliver your mail, lady in the bank will deposit money to your account and I don’t have to tell you about doctors, nurses and many others. So how about getting another person on your team? What can you delegate to save yourself time and get more work done?

4. Switch your focus from ‘having it perfect’ to ‘having it done’.

Don’t worry about how it looks, make sure you have it done in your time line. Make your to do list a priority. If certain task needs more attention have it planned for couple days rather than couple hours same day. It will help you to refocus, rethink whole concept instead of making it a painful experience where you sit in front of empty screen waiting for inspiration to come.

5. Get inspired.

Look at other people’s efforts. Compare what they’re doing and results they’re getting. You’ll probably find out that there’s no perfect website, no perfect newsletter, no perfect program. But you always tweak it as you go to make it work for you and your clients. And then you move to another project and another one and another one. Say good bye to perfect, say hi to fast and fabulous!

© 2010 MagneticLook.com

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By Silvia on February 10th, 2010

Finding Your Happiness

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Have you sat down and made out your yearly goals?  If so, have you made out your life goals?  The things that you want to accomplish throughout your life.  Your dreams and aspirations.  Achieving your goals is directly related to your happiness.

If you are like many people today, you probably have a list of things that you would love to do or try, but you just don’t know how.  The things on your list probably make you happy and bring you joy and fulfillment.  By writing these items down on paper, you will have a visual guide to what you want to accomplish.  Being able to mark those things off of the list as done gives you an even greater feeling.

Once you write out your goals, make time to do them.  If you have always wanted to learn how to knit, set aside time each week to practice knitting.  If you love to sing, look into joining a community choir.  Find something that you will be able to carve out a time slot for.

Another activity that can help you find your happiness is keeping a journal.  Write down quotes, thoughts, and any lists that you may think of.  When you do something that makes you feel happy, record that in your journal.  When someone else does something that makes you happy, record that as well.  When you see how much you actually have to be happy about, it makes you feel good.  It is also helpful to be able to look back through your journal when things are not going very well, and remember what makes you happy.

photo source:  lusi

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By Silvia on January 29th, 2010

Moving

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Young Couple Moving HouseUff, moving is a tough thing let me tell you. Numbers of boxes, plenty of lost and found stuff and unbelievable number of things you’ve never used and will probably never use again. Yes, we’re moving. (If you want to find how I still have time to update my blog, create events and specials, be in touch with my clients, run my multiple businesses and much more, I will disappoint you as this is not what I’m going to write about today.)

The point is, that I found some cool things while packing. I found sticker box I bought for my kids for Christmas 2 years ago. And a book I bought for my older one’s Birthday we celebrated last spring. Also many drawings from my kids and forgotten DVDs… the list could go on. I was pretty sure I have good systems in place, I know where to find everything and it’s only my kids who misplace stuff so that it can’t be found. I was wrong!

I am a queen of systems. If it was up to me, I’d keep coming up with new systems couple times throughout a day. But you know what? “Less is more” is true even in this area. You can’t keep changing your systems every day! Not even every week. Best solution for your systems is to research different solutions, choose the one that works best for you and stick to it until you master it. This way there will be no lost and found gifts, no extra expenses and most of all, you’ll save plenty of time. So let’s get serious. Scatch your ideal systems for your home, work, office (one at a time please), create it and use it until it becomes a norm for you how things work.

Feel free to post a note below if you have any additional questions or comments.

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